Detectives say a chase which started when two teenagers stole a van from a group home on the Central Coast led to seven people being injured in a chain reaction traffic accident.
Investigators say it started at about 6:30 Tuesday morning, when one of the teens assaulted an employee at the Santa Maria facility, and the two stole the van. Law enforcement officers started chasing the vehicle southbound on Highway 101 until the van’s tires were damaged, and it became disabled in the center divider a few miles north of Gaviota.
While the teens were being arrested, a CHP car approaching the scene collided with several vehicles which had slowed because of the incident. Five vehicles were involved in the chain reaction crash, which left six people with minor injuries, and one with moderate injuries.
